disciple

noun

dis·​ci·​ple di-ˈsī-pəl 

1

: one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another: such as

a

Christianity : one of the twelve in the inner circle of Christ's followers according to the Gospel accounts

b

: a convinced adherent of a school or individual

a disciple of Freud

2

capitalized Christianity : a member of the Disciples of Christ founded in the U.S. in 1809 that holds the Bible alone to be the rule of faith and practice, usually baptizes by immersion, and has a congregational (see congregational sense 3) polity

discipleship

di-ˈsī-pəl-ˌship 

noun

Synonyms

• adherent
• follower
• apostle
• missionary

Choose the Right Synonym for disciple

follower, adherent, disciple, partisan mean one who gives full loyalty and support to another.

follower may apply to people who attach themselves either to the person or beliefs of another.

an evangelist and his followers

adherent suggests a close and persistent attachment.

adherents to Marxism

disciple implies a devoted allegiance to the teachings of one chosen as a master.

disciples of Gandhi

partisan suggests a zealous often prejudiced attachment.

partisans of the President

Examples of disciple in a Sentence

a disciple of Sigmund Freud

a circle of dedicated disciples who conscientiously wrote down everything the prophet said

Recent Examples on the Web

The relationships of House of McQueen’s hero to his mother (Emily Skinner) and his early disciple, patron, and confidante, the great fashion-world fairy godmother Isabella Blow (Catherine LeFrere), are sketched with similar thinness. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2025

Great Commission's current Assessment and Publications Coordinator and former chairman is Nicholas Haman, a senior Jang disciple who was previously facilities manager at Olivet University's Anza campus. —Alex J. Rouhandeh, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Sep. 2025

His disciple Marc Benioff, who runs sales management software company Salesforce, has done the opposite, and now Benioff, 60, is worth about $10 billion. —Jordan Novet, CNBC, 10 Sep. 2025

Over 20 years, Belichick disciples became prone to treating players as disposable assets instead of human beings they are supposed to both employ and empower. —Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 7 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "follower of Jesus, one of the apostles, pupil," in part going back to Old English discipul, in part borrowed from Anglo-French disciple, both borrowed from Late Latin discipulus "follower of Christ, apostle" (translation of Greek mathētḗs), going back to Latin, "pupil, learner," of uncertain origin

Note: Traditionally explained as a derivative of discere "to learn," but the second element -pulus is neither a known word nor a suffix. According to an alternative explanation, the base is nominalized from an unattested verb *discipere, putatively, "to grasp, comprehend," from dis- dis- and capere "to take, seize" (cf. disceptāre "to dispute, debate," supposedly a frequentative from this verb); this is semantically questionable, however, and -ulus is any case not an agentive suffix.

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for disciple

• clypeal
• archetypal

Kids Definition

disciple

noun

dis·​ci·​ple dis-ˈī-pəl 

1

: a person who accepts and helps to spread the teachings of another

2

: apostle sense 1a

discipleship

-ˌship 

noun

Etymology

Middle English disciple "one who follows and spreads the teaching of another," from Old English discipul and early French disciple (both, same meaning), from Latin discipulus "follower of Jesus Christ in his lifetime," from earlier discipulus "pupil"